war to that able spy, the Italian detective, Pietrino.




CHAPTER V

"YOUR MOTHER'S DAUGHTER"


The surprising disposal of Sir David Bright's fortune was to have very
important consequences in a quiet household among the Malcot hills, of
the existence of which Sir Edmund Grosse and Lady Rose Bright were
entirely unaware.

In a small wind-swept wood that appeared to be seeking shelter in the
hollow under the great massive curve of a green hill, there stood one of
those English country houses that must have been planned, built, and
finished with the sole object of obtaining coolness and shade. The
principal living rooms looked north, and the staircase and a minute
study were the only spots that ever received any direct rays of the sun.
All the rooms except this favoured little study had windows opening to
the ground, and immediately outside grew the rich mossy turf that
indicates a clay soil. The mistress of the house was not easily daunted
by her surroundings, and she had impressed her cheerful, comfortable,
and fairly cultured mind on all the rooms. Mrs. Carteret was the widow
of a Colonel Carteret, who had retired from the army to farm his own
acres, and take his place in local politics. It is needless to say that,
while the politics had gained from the help of an upright and
chivalrous, if narrow, mind, the acres had profited little from his